Gameday preview: Canucks vs Flames (March 19)

The Vancouver Canucks look to get two points as the Calgary Flames come to town on Hockey Night in Canada.

The Flames currently are the Pacific Division leaders but they lost their last game 1-0 in overtime thanks to a goal from Tage Thompson due to a mistake from Jacob Markstrom. These two teams met twice already this season with the Canucks winning the last one which was a 7-1 blowout in Vancouver ending the Flames’ 10-game winning streak.

The Canucks lost a disappointing game 1-0 to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday and Saturday’s game is the penultimate game of a seven game homestand and the first of a back-to-back. Vancouver has 67 points on the season and is three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild card spot.

Here is how the Canucks lined up at morning skate and it looks like this will be the lineup against the Flames. It also looks like Nils Höglander is still out with an apparent groin injury.

“I anticipate a different team tonight, a team that has gotten stronger since we last played them,” said Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau after the morning skate. “They’ve got 18 guys that they are building on that think the can win the Stanley Cup. After losing to Buffalo last night, they will come out really, really hard. We got to withstand their pressure and hopefully be a better team than we were last game.”

“It’s always a big test,” said Matthew Highmore. “They’re a good team. We’ve seen them twice now,first game was close and the other game we played well but we are expecting a big challenge tonight.”

Thatcher Demko will likely get the start for the Canucks in goal and he potentially go back to back this weekend.

For the Flames, since Markstrom started Friday night, it looks likely they will go with Dan Vladar in net.

Players to watch

Vancouver Canucks- Thatcher Demko: The Canucks goalie has been outstanding all season and he is third in the NHL in saves with 1,410.

Calgary Flames- Tyler Toffoli: In 38 games against the Canucks, Toffoli has 21 goals and 13 assists. Since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens, the former Canuck has eight goals and six assists in 16 games with the Flames.

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. You can watch the game on Sportsnet or CBC or listen to it on Sportsnet 650.